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Sitter in 2 portraitsRichard was a member of the Royal Society and was associated with the Lunar Society. As an engineer he assisted in the development of the telegraph in Ireland. Both he and his daughter Maria had a lasting impact through their publications. Together they wrote the influential primer Practical Education (1788), a sympathetic and enlightened scheme for the domestic upbringing of children, which encouraged self-expression, the use of imaginative literature and the writing of stories.